DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Anniversary

'Teal'c hasn't shown any improvement I'm afraid,' Dr Fraiser reported. 'Since he was brought back he has lapsed into a coma and isn't responding to any form of stimuli.'

'Any idea what's causing this Doctor?' Hammond asked.

'Well, I initially thought it was the substance he was exposed to while retrieving the artefact but while there seemed to be something unusual in his blood tests when I was first treating him, there doesn't seem to be any residue left in his system now.' Dr Fraiser looked puzzled and frustrated at not being able to discover what was going on with Teal'c.

'What about the device?' Daniel suggested, looking around at the others present to see how this was retrieved. 'I mean, Sam did say it was emitting some kind of energy, perhaps it's affecting Teal'c's symbiote?'

'I think we need to explore all avenues, sir,' Dr Fraiser turned back to Hammond. 'I could do with a sample of whatever it was that Teal'c inhaled, just to rule it out if nothing else.'

'If we were to suit up I can't see any danger in returning. Permission…'

'Request denied, Colonel,' Hammond interrupted Jack's request. 'SG3 can have this one - they know the lay of the land and can bring back a sample. I need you two to retrieve Captain Carter from leave. I had someone try to contact her while you were out looking for Teal'c but she isn't responding to her cell phone. We have no idea where she's staying, all we know is that she caught a flight to Boston and hired a car. Dr Jackson, you said something about going to Plymouth?' Daniel nodded his confirmation. 'That's around 60km south of Boston. I've made all the arrangements, you leave in half an hour. Any questions? Good, dismissed.' Jack and Dr Fraiser stood as Hammond left the room, Jack and Daniel leaving soon after.

************

'At last!' Jack exclaimed as they pulled into the parking lot opposite the beach. This was the fourth location they had tried, the others all being nearly deserted except for a couple of people walking their dogs. It looked like they had found their target this time though, the only car parked up was the rental which matched the description Jack had been given. They had found the motel Sam had been staying in fairly quickly, Jack and Daniel had rung around the hotels in the vicinity, and after only three calls Daniel had hit on the right one. They had set out immediately, but on arrival found she had already departed.

Returning to the assumption that she would have gone to the beach, Jack and Daniel had armed themselves with several maps of the area and settled down with cups of coffee and ruled out places she was unlikely to be, narrowing the search area down to four beaches. It was nearly midday by the time they arrived at this location, Daniel voicing doubts that they would actually find her at all.

'See,' Jack said smugly to Daniel, 'You've got no faith have you?'

Getting out of the car, they scanned the beach and could see only a few faint footprints in the sand, no sign of Sam anywhere.

'Well, she did say she was going to walk the cliffs, so I guess that's where we head next.'

Silently the two men walked along the cliffs, too absorbed in their mission to notice the beauty of the scenery around them despite the gathering storm clouds and the chill wind which was beginning to find its way through the fabric of their clothes.

*************

She sat motionless as though she belonged to the landscape, a part of the landscape. She felt separated from the world around her, no longer a part of it. Feeling like this protected her from the pain, the sorrow, the sense of loss which seemed to be enveloping her. As she stared out to sea she had felt a sense of calm overtaking her and everything seemed well once more, but she knew that this was wrong. There was a lump in her chest, a tight knot of locked away feelings and emotions that refused to come out and she began to feel despair now, aloneness as though things could never be right and that she would never get through this. She hid her face in her hands, a dry sob catching in her throat, then a hand on her shoulder, a familiar voice…

'Sam?' The voice sounded worried. For a moment she ignored it, trying to get herself under control, then she could feel an arm around her, feel warmth reaching towards her, not just physical warmth but the warmth that came from knowing a friend was here, a friend who could help. Still not looking up, Sam turned towards Daniel and buried her head in his shoulder, clinging to him as the tears started falling again, this time accompanied by heart-rending sobs as the knot in her chest began to unravel and she cried away the pain.

Daniel pulled Sam closer towards him, his free hand stroking her hair, comforting her as he murmured soothing words, incomprehensible words that served only to reassure. He looked into Jack's face who was standing to one side, his hands deep in his pockets looking uncomfortable at this display of emotion, and not understanding what was going on or why this was happening.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Daniel could feel Sam's grip loosening and he released his hold on her while keeping a hand on her shoulder, reminding her he was still there.

Taking a few moments to wipe her eyes and blow her nose, she finally came back down to earth.

'Daniel? Colonel?' She looked in confusion at the two men.

'Sam,' Daniel spoke quietly, not wanting to set her off again. 'What was that all about?'

Sam looked hesitantly from Daniel to Jack, then sighed as she began to speak.

'I've been feeling down for a few days and I couldn't figure out why,' Sam looked sideways at Jack, wondering how he would take all this emotional stuff, surprised to see him focussing on what she was saying. Reassured, she went on. 'I thought maybe I was going crazy or something, but then I looked at the calendar.' Jack and Daniel raised eyebrows at each other, wondering if this was just some 'time of month' thing, but said nothing and allowed Sam to continue. 'I guess all that time on Hathor's planet made me forget the date and got me all turned around. Anyway, I realised why I'd been feeling depressed. Did you know that it's exactly a year ago that Jolinar died to save my life?'

This hadn't been what either man had been expecting and both started to say something, but Sam wasn't finished yet.

'And in two weeks time, it will have been twenty years since my mother died. It made me feel better knowing there was a reason for the way I was feeling, but everything just got on top of me and I had to get away, to come here where I had so many memories of my mother, family holidays where we were all together. But,' Sam sighed deeply, 'It also made me realise what I'd lost: Jolinar died and left me with a whole heap of memories that aren't even mine, my mother died, dad nearly died and now he's out there in the universe somewhere and I don't know when or if I'll see him again and I haven't seen my brother in I don't know how long because he resents the fact that I'm in the air force, just like dad. It just feels like I've lost so much and I'm so alone.' Sam ran out of words, feeling emotionally exhausted, but somehow relieved to have gotten it all out in the open.

'Sam, you're not…' Daniel began.

'Oh for crying out loud,' Jack muttered under his breath, earning him a startled look from Sam and Daniel. 'Carter - Sam - you're not on your own. You've got a whole new family now, and your dad is fine and you will see him again. And your brother is still around, maybe all it needs is just one of you to break the silence.' Jack stopped talking, looking a little embarrassed at his outburst. Sam smiled, appreciating what she had heard, then changed the subject.

'Aren't you guys supposed to be on vacation?'

''Supposed' being the operative word here Carter,' Jack jumped in, relieved that things seemed to be returning to normal and that Carter wasn't one fry short of a happy meal after all. 'We've been trying to get hold of you but no-one knew where you were staying and you didn't have your cell phone switched on.'

'I'm sorry sir, I completely forgot to turn it on…I…'

'It's alright Carter,' Jack jumped in, seeing Sam beginning to work herself up again. 'No harm done and it gave us a nice break by the sea - if I can't go fishing, seeing the sea is next best thing I guess.'

'Yes sir,' Sam replied quietly. 'So why were you trying to get hold of me anyway?'

'Oh, Teal'c went nuts and got off the base - used my car if you can believe it,' Jack spoke in an airy manner, lightening the tension. 'He assaulted some poor civilian in the middle of nowhere who was trying to help him and then, with a little help from Doc's happy juice, we got him back to the infirmary.'

'Yes?' Sam, looking for more information than was forthcoming from the Colonel, turned to Daniel for clarification.

'Since then, he's been in a coma and is completely unresponsive.' Daniel took up the explanation. 'Dr Fraiser initially thought it was that stuff he must have inhaled, but now she's not so sure. SG3 went back to the planet to fetch samples of the substance, and General Hammond needs you to try to figure out if the device could have anything to do with this - you did say it was giving off some kind of energy.'

'Oh my god!' Sam's attention was fully focussed on Teal'c's situation now. 'Well, yes, there was a low level of energy from it, but it was barely noticeable and may just have been a residue from the decontamination process. I can't see how it could be causing this.'

'What if…' Daniel began, before being interrupted.

'This is all very nice,' Jack said sarcastically, 'But I think we need to get back to the base asap, don't you? You can continue your little tête-à-tête on the way back.'

To be continued…